Portable devices commonly are powered by an integral power source, such as a rechargeable battery. As the art adds new features and optimizes existing features, portable devices demand more power. To meet this increasing need, those in the art may simply use larger batteries. Doing this, however, is contrary to another widespread trend in modern electronics; namely, device miniaturization.
Mobile telephones illustrate this conundrum. Specifically, mobile telephones executing the well-known 3G standard generally must transmit a signal to a base station once every set time period (e.g., once about every 2.5 seconds). The purpose of this transmission is to coordinate the telephone with the appropriate cell, thus ensuring that the telephone can communicate across the cellular network. Transmitting this signal so frequently, however, drains the battery. Those in the art therefore are faced with choosing between not following this widely accepted standard (to reduce power consumption), or ensuring a large enough battery to meet the needs of the standard.